Donald Trump said late Sunday that a ship movement he called Project Freedom would begin Monday morning Middle East time, framing it as a humanitarian move to free up people, companies and countries he said had done nothing wrong.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said the operation was meant as a humanitarian gesture on behalf of the United States, Middle Eastern countries and, in particular, Iran. He warned that if the process was interfered with, that interference would have to be dealt with forcefully.
The announcement came as the war entered its third month and a fragile U.S.-Iran ceasefire remained shaky. Trump also told reporter Nathan Guttman on Sunday that the new Iranian proposal was not acceptable, saying he had studied it and found it unacceptable.
That proposal, which U.S. officials received through Pakistani mediators, calls for all hostilities to stop within 30 days, including Israel’s operations in Lebanon, while also ending the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports, withdrawing American forces from the region and lifting U.S. sanctions on Iran. Officials from Iran and Pakistan involved in the talks confirmed to MS NOW that the points matched the plan first reported by Axios.
Tehran has not offered to discuss its nuclear program until after the war ends. Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on state television Sunday that the nuclear issue is not part of the new proposal.
The dispute is unfolding as Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz continues to rattle energy markets. The waterway carries 20% of the world’s oil, and the average U.S. gas price reached $4.45 per gallon on Sunday, up from $3.17 a year earlier, according to AAA.
The political pressure is mounting as well. A Washington Post-Ipsos poll found that 66% of respondents disapprove of Trump’s handling of the Iran war, while 33% approve. With Project Freedom set to begin Monday, the next test is whether the promised ship movement can proceed without widening a conflict that has already pushed diplomacy, energy markets and public confidence to the edge.